Squirrel eating bark

[Swampman]

Yesterday morning I was sitting in the swamp with my son.  My son was deer hunting in the Minnesota youth hunt and we had a fox squirrel do a peculiar thing. The squirrel was tearing bark off of a dead elm branch. It appeared he was eating the inner bark.  He would then drop the rest of the bark. I have never seen a squirrel do this before. He came a did this 2 different times while we were there. Has anyone else ever seen a squirrel do this? 

Thanks, Mike.

[lenador]

Elm inner bark has various medicinal properties so it may be possible he was self medicating.

[darinputman]

I've watched em do it seems smaller saplings strip bark and let it fall, works on it a while though. I  was later looking at a nest in a blowdown and theres a little of everything in there, kinda wonder if thats what the purpose of the stripping was, not sure just thoughts.

[Swampman]

I guess that squirrel could have been bringing the inner bark back to line his nest. That makes sense to me.

[Marc St Louis]

I haven't seen them do that but I have seen them eat mushrooms

[stickbender]

     I've seen them eat my pineapples!!!

                                    Wayne

[PEARL DRUMS]

Ive seen a squirrel eating a dead squirrel along the road, it was mid winter and the snow was deep.

[Swampman]

Sounds like a squirrel will eat most anything if times are tough. I do have to say I don't see many squirrels in the swamp area I hunt. Not much for any nut trees so I guess maybe they adapt to what is there.

[Parnell]

Ive seen a squirrel eating a dead squirrel along the road, it was mid winter and the snow was deep.

Sounds like the opening line for a scary squirrel campfire story.  "It was mid winter and the snow was deep, there was hardly an acorn to be found when Great Grandpa Joe had to resort to the horror...the horror."

[mullet]

Our small game season is usually the same time that the new growth and seed buds are coming out on our Maples in the swamp. I usually walk the river from maple to Maple and slaughter the squirrels.
The trees are loaded with them eating the blossoms and young growth. And Wayne, they used to eat my pineapples, too. Now those guys live in my freezer .